66 Dk. E. CRISP ON THE ANATOMY OF THE GIRAFFE. ([Feb. 9, 
simply in a semilunar valve-like production of the mucous membrane 
overlapping the anterior or duodeual end of each patch so as to leave 
a kind of cul de sac, &e. 
“Far more striking and complicated is the pouched structure 
situated within the cecal extremity of the colon. Here we have 
from fifteen to twenty saccules, some of them resembling in many 
respects the water-reservoirs of the reticulum, and having a depth of 
3 or 4 lines,” &e. 
I now proceed to give an account of the intestinal tube of the 
young Giraffe last inspected. It was slit open from mouth to anus, 
and I examined it very carefully with Mr. Jennens in every part; 
and, that I might be correct, we went over it a second time. The 
only gland visible to the naked eye was a small agminated patch, 
3 lines in length and 13 in breadth, on the lower part of the ileum. 
The glands before described by Dr. Cobbold were present, but not 
in so well-marked a character as those figured in the paper alluded 
to; and on distending the ceecum with air, I found that these crypts 
formed no external bulging, as is the case with the water-reservoirs 
spoken of by Dr. Cobbold, as the preparation before the Society will 
show. : 
The careful examination, microscopical and otherwise, of the whole 
intestinal track of the abdominal tube in an old Giraffe will be a matter 
of great interest and importance, so that we may ascertain the exact 
condition of these peculiarities, duodenal, ceecal, and rectal, in the 
adult animal. 
The most interesting part of my communication remains to be 
told. For the better inspection of the rectum of the young Giraffe, I 
took it to my own house, and was surprised to find, on cutting it open, 
that the mucous lining was elevated into irregular-shaped quadran- 
gular folds, having somewhat the appearance of the cells of the reti- 
culum, but on a larger scale. I have mislaid the preparation and 
a sketch of it, but I hope to exhibit it at the next Meeting. Since 
this examination, I have carefully looked at the rectum in all the 
ruminants inspected, but have found no analogous structure. I did 
not examine the lining membrane of this gut in the adult specimens, 
nor am I aware that it has ever been properly inspected. 
Before I introduce the table, I will make a few remarks on the im- 
portance of a correct study of the alimentary canal and its appen- 
dages, the mucous glands, liver, pancreas, and spleen. Here it is 
that the pabulum of life is prepared, the blood-corpuscles generated, 
and the most important functions of the body performed. In addi- 
tion to the usual mode of examination, I have adopted one that I be- 
lieve is quite novel, viz. that of ascertaining the capacity of the di- 
gestive track by distending the various parts of the tube with water 
and accurately measuring the capacity of each division. When this 
plan is pursued throughout the whole class of Vertebrata, and the 
weight of the thoracic and abdominal viscera and other parts ascer- 
tained at the same time, I am sanguine enough to believe that many 
of our physiological deductions will stand on a firmer basis than at 
present. Let me give one example of the capacity of the alimentary 
